KIRKUS REVIEW

It’s tempting to class this historical novel about the
Battle of Gettysburg as YA fiction because its heroine is 15, but, with all due
respect to that genre, it’s much, much more.

Debut
novelist Moody found an account written by Matilda “Tillie” Pierce—a teenager
who lived in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, when the famous Civil War battle changed
the good citizens’ lives forever—and ran with it. In this novel, Tillie
comes from a good, God-fearing, staunchly abolitionist family, and she, her
parents, her sister, Maggie, and a butcher’s apprentice named Sam live together;
her two brothers, James and William, have gone off to war. First ragtag
Confederates, bent on terror and pillage, come to town; then the Union
cavalry rides to the rescue, followed by the infantry, who are met by a full
complement of Confederates. Then comes the full panoply of the three awful days
of the Battle of Gettysburg (July 1-3, 1863), the bloodiest clash of the war. When
Gettysburg first seems threatened, Tillie goes with a neighbor and her
daughters to Jacob Weikert’s farm outside town,which is thought to be safer. But then Yankees commandeer the
place, turning it into a field hospital. Here Tillie distinguishes herself, as
she’s pressed into service as a nurse, even assisting with amputations.
However, Weikert’s farm has been effectively destroyed by Union soldiers, and
he doesn’t take it kindly. There’s as much turmoil within Tillie as
without; specifically, she wonders how the God she’s been taught to worship could
allow this carnage. Moody knows the value of detail and pacing and knows how
to set a scene and build drama, as when Weikert is challenged to give up a pump
handle that he hid out of spite or when his daughter returns home to find her
furniture out in the street as part of a barricade. Details
such as military maneuvers, weapons, and medical treatments appear to be
historically accurate, as do the language, attitudes, and mores of townspeople
in 19th-century America. Although this novel will appeal to adults as well,
it’s sure to grab teenagers’ imaginations and teach them not just facts, but greater
truths.

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